Chestnut mares

Chestnut mares have a reputation for being firey and difficult, opinionated and passionate. Apparently Piper didn't get that memo as she is super sweet and laid back. Coregel and Carma on the other hand seem to be determined to fill the stereotype!

I rode Carma for the first time yesterday....well "rode" may be an exaggeration, it was just walking at one end on a circle and one change of direction, while Clare2 held YJ in the ring for moral support. For a little mare, she sure feels powerful even at the walk! I think she is going to be a fantastic junior jumper when she grows up...in the meantime I think I need to go back to ground work to give her more confidence in the ring. She didn't feel nearly as small under me as I thought she would. She has a nice wide barrel.

After putting her out, I brought Coregel in (she was pressed against the gate waiting to see if Carma was going to come back alive). Coregel has settled down a lot, and stood quietly in the barn while I brushed her winter woollies and picked her feet. I then made the mistake of leading her out the other end of the barn and around the north side of the barn....apparently horses coming from that side of the barn are evil, as the other three chestnut fillies in her pen ran off in horror when she came around that side of the barn, and stood as far back as the could in wide eyed terror! (Bliss meanwhile just stared at them as she chewed her hay...she wants to make it very clear that she is NOT a chestnut mare in any way, shape or form!).

Poor Coregel thought that there was a monster behind her and started to practice her passage beside me....she did her best to hold it together though. Once in her pen she ran to the safety of her pals, only to have them run from her as she was apparently now a north side mutant. Only Piper was willing to get near her for a while!

Sometimes it is hard to remember that Carma is four, and Coregel and Piper are only two....Carma looks the youngest, and acts the silliest!

By the time they settled down, the fuzzy fillies were pretty warm. Fortunately it was a nice day for them to cool off.

Piper also got some attention and came in to be brushed. What a big girl she is getting to be. I am glad she is so mellow and I hope she stays that way.

I have also started riding Tango again; it is funny that I used to think her gaits were so big and hard to sit...but after a few years with her more athletic son, her gaits aren't nearly the work I remember them to be. I am enjoying being back on her....not sure if she feels the same though!

I think this will be the spring of the mares, as that seems to be mostly what I have booked for training and to ride this year!

Karen